This picture of Cato is him as he wouldve appeared circa 50 BC, at the height of the tension between the Roman Senate and Gaius Julius Caesar, who was governing Gaul.

Cato was a follower of the Stoic philosophy and a staunch enemy of Caesar. He was a member of the Optimate faction in the Senate, sometimes referred to as the Boni (Good Men). They were the ultra conservative faction of the Senate, who opposed change of any sort.

Cato was the half-brother of Servilia Caepionis (Caesars mistress), which made him the uncle of Marcus Junius Brutus (Caesars assassin)

He became famous for not wearing a tunic under his toga, because he wanted to emulate the Romans from the birth of the Republic.

Personally, I hate Cato. I strongly believe that the Civil War between Caesar Pompey would have been avoided if it had not been for Catos shortsighted hatred of Caesar, and the fact that he was not willing to compromise.

In 46 BC, whilst besieged inside Utica in North Africa, Cato stabbed himself with his own sword. Unfortunately, his servants found him and stitched him back up. Refusing to allow himself to be pardoned by Caesar, Cato ripped open his stitches and pulled out his own intestines.

You gave Cato too much credit, the institutes of the republic didn't function properly by the time of Caesar and Pompeius, it's was only a question of time under one man would rose to supreme dominance.

Any, it's should noted that Cato Minor was also famous for wearing black togas, another sign of his stoicism.

well yeah, the black toga is kind of a big deal. cato the younger was probably the origin of the entire goth subculture. most people think goth came from medieval era protests(where people dressed in black and painted their faces like skulls), but they forget that cato's "toga pulla" symbolized not only death, but also the working class. hence the medieval protests, hence goth is considered a subculture of punk. when bands like bella morte sing about silence being golden, talk being pale and cold, they are referring to the stoic philosophy cato was famous for popularizing. when you see goth kids in their all black, essentially they are all wearing cato's toga in protest against imperialist tyranny and corruption.

obviously the mainstream media machine will defend the threatened imperialist systems by showing the world misleading, historically unlikely images of cato disrespecting the working class(HBO's Rome) and hateful distorted depictions of modern goth culture(South Park). but whats shown on TV is slimy, manipulative propaganda, not reality. some people who consume a lot of mainstream media think goth is some kind of mood, or a phase kids go through. goth is neither of those. goth is a philosophy and worldview. its a lifestyle and political outlook which cato appears to have popularized if not inspired on his own.

I like that to. Of all ancient people only from Romans and Egyptians we know how they looked. Because Egyptians have their mummies and Romans their busts and amazingly realistic art.I love that realism. The fact that Caesar in later life was portrayed as a bold man, Sulla as old and ugly and Cato as a big nosed man. And then there was Cicero with his oversized head! The busts were very honest, not flattering at all!